City of Dayton Plans to Acknowledge Juneteenth as a Holiday

The City of Dayton is celebrating Juneteenth this year and will seek to recognize the new federal holiday through a floating holiday for employees in 2021.

 

“The City of Dayton understands the value of acknowledging Juneteenth as a holiday to commemorate the liberation of enslaved African Americans,” said Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley. “While this is a moment for celebration, we must also acknowledge how much work we still have to do to live up to our country’s founding ideals. As a city, we take this as an opportunity to redouble our commitment to racial justice and to ensure that Black Daytonians have the opportunity to thrive.”

 

The City administration will work with all employee labor unions to negotiate a floating holiday in 2021 and to annually recognize June 19 as a city holiday beginning in 2022.

 

“Creating a workplace that is both inclusive and diverse is an endeavor we at the City takes seriously,” said City Manager Shelley Dickstein. “Recognizing Juneteenth as an official holiday is a great step in celebrating the diverse backgrounds of our employees while acknowledging that there is more, we can do as an organization to build a culture of racial equity.”